Publish date: 2023-12-24
Like so many other phrases that have been casually woven into common vernacular over centuries past, "give up the ghost" traces its origins all the way back to The Holy Bible. In the Book of Job (4:10), the exact dialogue reads, "Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost" (per The Free Dictionary by Farlex). The explanation is right there in the words leading up to the phrase — death. Man dies and wastes away, and his ghost is relinquished unto the ether.
It appears again in Mark 15:37 when, after suffering immensely upon the cross, "Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." According to The Grammarist, the widespread use of the phrase in common language likely started to proliferate sometime in the 1600s after The King James Bible was published and made available to the masses.
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